He will wake up early on a Saturday morning to catch a bus at 4 a.m. The bus will take him to Pine Glen Camp Ground in Heflin, Ala. At exactly 6 a.m., he will set off with about 250 other people on a 100-mile run through the mountains of Alabama.

Grady teacher Brian Montero will run the Pinhoti 100 this year on Nov. 2. One of Montero’s weekend running buddies, William Joiner, believes Montero is ready for the distance.

“Although a 100-mile race is a lot, Brian never really overdoes it,” Joiner said. “He always progressed step by step. He didn’t just wake up and start training to run a marathon.”

Though this is Montero’s first 100-mile race, he has been running long distance since 2009. Montero estimated that he has participated in 20-25 races, including three half marathons, two road marathons, four 50Ks and three Peachtree Road Races. In the spring, Montero ran a 65-mile trail race in north Georgia, which got him thinking about trying a longer race.

“After I finished that race, I felt like I was ready,” Montero said. “The first thing I thought was I think I can do 100 miles.”

So Montero signed up for the Pinhoti 100, which winds through the mountains in the Talladega National Park in eastern Alabama. Todd Henderson founded the race six years ago and is still the director. Henderson said the race appeals to people partly because it is a point-to-point race.

“You’re going from Point A to Point B, and there’s no loops,” Henderson said. “You’re seeing different terrain the whole way throughout the course.”

Over the past six years, runners have come to eastern Alabama from all over the country as well as from Canada and even Japan. Henderson said last year, participants hailed from at least five different countries.

Because the trail is 100 miles long, Henderson said it takes between 16 and 30 hours to reach the finish line. Montero said he hopes to run it in about 24 hours. His goal is to run through the whole thing, with occasional walking breaks.

Henderson said runners are not on their own. Volunteers man 18 aid stations throughout the course, providing food and liquids for the runners.

In addition, the volunteers at the stations make sure runners keep a fast enough pace to finish before the 30-hour time cutoff.

“There is a time cutoff at all the aid stations, so if you get too far back we’ll pull you from the course because we know you’re not going to make it to the next aid station in time, and we don’t want to keep the volunteers out there any longer than they’re supposed to,” Henderson said.

Henderson said one motivation for creating the race was that he wanted people to see the beauty of the land, and the view from the trail is still a main reason runners want to participate. The race goes over the highest point in Alabama, and there are many rock outcroppings with scenic views along the trail.

Montero said the view inspires him to keep running.

“There is something about when you’re out on the trail, and you’re, like in a mountain. It really does inspire me to want to run more,” Montero said. He later added, “I’ll see another mountain out in the distance, you know and I’m like, ‘I’ll just do that one,’ and just kind of keep going, you know. And that, for me, is sort of the motivation.”

To prepare for his first 100-mile race, Montero said he’s not doing too much more than his normal routine. He runs 40-50 miles total during the week, doing short runs during weekdays and longer runs on the weekends. Sometimes, Montero said, he goes up to the north Georgia mountains to do trail runs on the weekends, often with his running buddies Joiner and Shane Sanders. Both were quick to praise Montero’s running ability.

“When we first started going out there together, it was immediately apparent to me that he is a naturally-gifted trail runner, especially on uphill climbs,” Sanders said. “A sure sign of a real distance trail runner is someone who gets stronger and stronger as the miles go by, and that’s Brian.”

When running in Atlanta, Montero has certain routes he likes to take. Montero said he enjoys running through Grant Park, East Atlanta, Moreland Avenue and downtown.

Scenery, however, is only a small part of Montero’s reason for continuing to run–how it makes him feel also contributes to his passion. Joiner said it’s the same reason he enjoys running.

“Brian and I both appreciate running because it gives you an opportunity to mentally decompress while improving fitness and to free yourself from being stuck inside at work or home and live in the outside world,” Joiner said.

Joiner also said Montero talks about running in very metaphysical terms. Montero thinks more about the effect running has on him and less about the act of running.

“When I’m out running, for me, my thoughts are very clear,” Montero said. “Everything tends to fall in sort of a harmony.”